A waterskier killed when he collided with a boat skippered by his wife has been named as garage boss Richard Croft.

Mr Croft, 33, who lived in Chichester Drive, Saltdean, was pulled from the water after being hit by the propellers of the speedboat. The tragedy happened on his birthday.

His wife Claire, a former air hostess, was last night being comforted by her parents.

The couple had been married since their mid-20s and moved to their chalet bungalow in Saltdean about five years ago.

Mr Croft was a partner in Beaconsfield Motors in Beaconsfield Road, Brighton.

Mechanics at the workshops, close to Preston Circus, were too stunned to talk about the death of their popular boss.

Mr Croft often drove to work on his motorbike and the couple owned the boat involved in the tragedy, which happened just before 5pm on Monday.

Mrs Croft had recently given up working as an air hostess out of Gatwick and had a part-time job in a bank.

A post-mortem examination was expected to be carried out today.

Mr Croft's death is the second family boating tragedy off Brighton in the past three weeks.

Ian Langan, 45, died when two speedboats collided near the Palace Pier on August 4.

The boat which collided with his vessel was being driven by his younger brother, Cliff.